A Broken Mirror
by Sigma18
Summary: Ryou Yamada, a relic from the past, discovers that one of his relatives may be hidden among the leaves of Konohagakure no sato. When he reaches Konoha with his assistant, Inutsuna Uzumaki, it's quickly made clear that the person they are looking for is of some importance to the village. Rated M due to mentions of violence and sexual abuse.
1. Chapter 1

A mirror... Many superstitions were built up around mirrors, seven years bad luck, the mirror reflecting the soul and many other childish things like that... But despite them being childish everyone still accepted them... So when a man comes walking into a shop with a small cracked hand mirror around his neck and a bright clueless smile on his face, well a few questions have to be asked.

The man seemed completly normal, darkish hair, brown eyes, a red t-shirt with a white button up shirt over the top, black trousers and black shoes. If he didn't have the previously mentioned mirror no one would even spare him a second glance.

The clerk of the weapons shop smiled politely in response to the sweet and cheerful smile the young man was giving off.

\- Hello sir, she began hesitantly, how may i be of assistance ?

\- Ah, i'm simply looking for a new katana, i won't bother you with something so trivial.

And with that the man went to scour the weapon racks, his eyes searching for something, what that something was specificaly however, the clerk had no clue. She had seen many shinobi, samuraï and even bandits come through her master's shop but this man seemed slightly different.

Her shop, the _'seuil du commencement'_ was renowned for its fine craftsmanship and its fair prices. However with fame came the attention of strange customers. She believed the man before her could be put into that category.

After what felt like an eternity he finaly picked a blade. As he began walking towards her she already recognised the katana he was holding. The simple black leather wrapped saya and the detailed spiraling habaki seemed to general put buyers off as it was seen as pointlessly decorative, however most buyers were sorely tempted _if_ they removed the blade from the saya.

\- A nice light weight blade, sharpened to perfection and with an easy grip. It's perfect.

The clerk hid a cringe, this guy must have been clueless and trying to act smart. It hadn't been sharpened since she had picked it off the corpse of a long dead ninja. There was something about the guy that always made her wonder, it was the deceased soul's headband. The strange spiral engraved into it was not one she recognised or had ever heard about.

\- Are you sure sir ther-

\- No this one is exactly what i'm looking for... Who would have thought that i would- Well anyway, how much does this blade cost may i ask ?

\- Uhh ... Well honestly it's been there forever and no one ever seems to want to buy it ... It's not of particularly good quality and the one who forged it is unknown so you can have it for free as long as you give me some form of identification or license that it.

\- Ahh, of course how silly of me .

As the young man said this his smile went from disarming to almost gleeful. He handed the clerk a small red handbook, she quickly flipped it open and read its contents.

 _Name: Ryou Yamada_

 _Origin: Land of whirlpools_

 _Village: Uzushiogakure_

 _License level: S rank_

There were varying other miscelenious informations that were less important along with an official seal which was unmistakable. She frowned slightly while handing the booklet back slightly supprised that he had an S ranked license, those things weren't handed out for free.

\- My deepest thanks for the blade, maybe i'll come back someday and actualy buy something !

Just as he was walking out of the shop an old man came walking in, said man stopped in his tracks as the now identified Ryou walked past him.

\- What's wrong grandfather ? Did you know the man ?

\- Know the man ?! The elderly man's voice was bordering on indignance as he spoke, That man Was Ryou Yamada !

At his granddaughter's confused look the old man became slightly downcast.

\- What to they teach you brats in school these days ? That was whirlpool's infamous Kamikaze ! Damn that Uzumaki blood that makes him look so young, he must be at least fifty years old by now !

The young clerk wasn't sure what her grandfather was babbling on about but she knew that it was about time she took him to see the doctor again.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Ryou was sat on a tree stump, his newly aquired katana resting on his shoulder. His brown eyes lifted up slightly and his gaze fell upon the form of a kneeling person. Said person had light blond hair and dark blue eyes that looked up to him with what seemed like admiration.

\- Ryou-sama.

\- Inutsuna... Stand and give me your report.

The boy, as his face was young and his body short, hesitated for a short amount of time before finnaly standing up, his bright exuberant eyes fixating onto his master. As he stood it was easier to see that the young boy had a tanto tied onto his waist and that his clothing was very simmilar to that of his master. A white button up shirt with a green t-shirt underneath and light grey trousers however instead of wearing shoes like his master he was bare foot.

\- Well, i believe i have finnaly located another of our relatives Ryou-sama ! I was taking a nap in the sun near the town...Tanzaku-gai i think it's called ... And this big drunk man disturbed my sleep by shouting out about, and i quote ' That Uzumaki brat ' ! The ugly guy was wearing a konoha headband so i'm sure that must be where the boy is !

Ryou sighed slightly as he closed one eye and held a hand against his forehead.

\- Inutsuna ?

The boy perked up and brough his hands closer to his chest almost resembling a dog wanting to get a pat on the head.

\- Yes Ryou-sama ?

\- What have i told you about going to sleep when your _supposed_ to be searching for information ?

The boy shriveled up under his master's gaze and let out the equiviliant of a whine. He flinched as his master raised his hand above his head, he waited for the hit to connect with his head but instead his master's thick skinned hand simply ruffled his hair, which made the dog like boy push his head up into the man's palm.

\- Let's hurry and start making tracks, i'd like it if we get to the hidden leaf before sunrise tomorow.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

It was quite a sight, the dense canopy slowly melting away revealing the blinding sun that hung over the huge red gates of Konoha. Two sets of footsteps crunched away at the gravel pathway. The footsteps slowly approached the small booth at the entrance of the village. Already the two strangers could see the hustle and bustle of the civilians as they went about their daily buissness.

\- Names, buissness in the village and a form of identification please.

The voice that spoke was clearly rather happy to see someone they didn't recognise walk through their gate. The person had a bandage passing over his nose and wild spiky hair, by his vest he was a chuunin.

\- Ryou Yamada, i'm here looking for a fammily member and this is Inutsuna Uzumaki, he's my... assistant.

The chunnin looked up at him with a furrowed brow as he handed him two red booklets. His gaze fell upon Ryou's katana and Inutsuna's tanto but as soon as he flipped open the booklets he seemed to relax as they had the appropriate licenses.

\- I've never heard the name Yamada ... Sounds alot like Yamanaka ? Oh, but I have definitly heard of an Uzumaki though ...

The gate guard chuckled to himself as he spoke. Ryou smilled kindly and inclined his head slightly before speaking in a calm tone.

\- I'm a part of one of the Uzumaki clan's branches. Would you mind terribly if i asked you about this Uzumaki you mentioned ?

\- 'Course not, besides ask anybody and they'll tell you about him. Maybe not in a very favorable tone... Anyway, his name's Naruto Uzumaki, short blond kid wearing bright orange, can't miss him... I think i saw him heading to the Hokage tower with his team this morning so he might be out on a mission... I'm sure Hokage-sama will be intrested if you're really both members of his family though.

\- Excellent, would you mind pointing me to the Hokage tower, it's my first time visiting here.

\- 'Course, it's that huge red building next to the academy, you can't miss it if you head straight down that street.

Ryou inclined his body slightly and Inutsuna bowed deeply. They both gave their thanks after the chunnin had returned their papers. Ryou's brown eyes gazed down the street as he was followed by Inutsuna who was currently spreading his arms out and pretending to be a bird. Ryou kept his disarming smile up as he nodded to anyone who met his gaze.

\- Ryou-sama, this village has a heavy millitary presence dosen't it ? It's not at all like the hot water village we passed through, those guys barely had any shinobi out and about.

The tall dark haired man didn't anwser and simply focused his eyes on what he could only guess was the hokage tower what with the sign with 'Fire' written in bright bold letters on it. The closer he got to the building the bigger he realised it was, it must have had at least seven stories all together and its width was something to marvel at aswell. Despite Inutsuna's wide eyes and awed expression Ryou seemed completly unfazed as he continued to walk forwards.

The inside of the building was rather suprising, the area that Ryou and Inutsuna were in took up the equivalent of two stories worth of space. The first level of the area was practicaly unoccupied save for three reception desks with three women sat behind them, each working away at their own pile of paperwork. Along with the reception area there were four staircases that lead up to the second area which overlooked the whole reception area, it was completly filled with bookshelves and filling cabinets, a chunin passing by every now and then to pick up a document or important book.

Ryou walked up to the oldest looking receptionist and coughed politely.

\- Oh, sorry i didn't see you, too absorbed in my work, how may i help you ?

Despite what she said Ryou had the glimmer of a feeling that she had sensed his approach before he had even stepped through the door.

\- Good day, my name is Ryou Yamada and this is Inutsuna Uzumaki, we're here to speak to the Hokage about a Naruto Uzumaki, of course that's only if there are no other pressing matters that require his attention.

The elderly woman glanced at what to any civilian looked like a plant pot in the corner of the room however someone with sharp senses could feel the presence of someone hidding. When the woman looked at the plant pot there was the very slight but distinct sound of fabric rubbing against porcelain. The sound of an Anbu nodding.

\- It would seem the Hokage has attended all of the meetings he needed to for today and has no backlog of paperwork so you're free to go up to the sixth flour and knock on his door.

Of course despite all of this charade Ryou knew that the second he had mention 'Uzumaki' to the gate guards the Hokage had been informed. Ryou didn't know why but that named held weight in this village and received both hatred and admiration from many of the shadows that had been following him.

His hope that the ammount of shadows following him would reduce when he reached the door to the Hokage's office was quickly shattered. He heard the voice of the strongest man of the village call him in and as he opened the door he felt the almost unnoticable displacement of air that went past him and into the room. Two, three, six not even, altogether he felt at least twelve shadows enter the room in the few seconds that he held the door open for Inutsuna.

\- Ahh, you must be Ryou-san yes ? And the young boy is Inutsuna-kun ?

Ryou nodded politely, his smile was as disarming and natural as it could have been but the elderly man before him seemed to scan every inch of his face with utter seriousness before turning to smile at the blond haired young boy who was practicaly bouncing off the walls despite him being clearly aware of the situation.

\- Please have a seat, both of you.

The words were spoken kindly and with a smile but they were an order, this was going to be an interogation session. Why was this village so protective of their Uzumaki ? Most villages couldn't care less. Ryou took his seat adjusting his Katana as he did so, this made every shadow in the room tense up but as he relaxed into his seat and crossed his legs each one seemed to calm down. The fact that the anbu had let both of them in with their weapons said that they were confident in their skills or the skills of their kage either that or they were unrealisticaly arrogant. Inutsuna took a seat aswell however he was a lot less refined than Ryou, he practicaly leapt into the seat and placed his hands between his legs on the seat, already starting to rock back and forth.

\- I heard that you're looking for one of your fammily members Ryou-san ? Is that right ?

\- Yes. I'm a part of the eighth branch of the Uzumaki clan, The Yamada branch. This boy is the child of a member of the first branch, the closest you can get to a pure blooded Uzumaki save for the main house. We heard that a young boy by the name of Naruto Uzumaki lived here on our travels and decided to pass by.

\- Oh ? I never knew the Uzumaki clan had Branches ?

\- Mhh, well it's not a well known fact but the Uzumaki clan was the biggest clan there was during the warring states period. However when that period ended and the Uzumaki clan came together to form a village many others joined the ranks and so the Uzumaki blood became less 'pure'. Nine branches were born from the original clan, each having something that distincly seperated them from the others. The first branch, which was the only branch allowed to keep the name of Uzumaki was born from the love between an Uzumaki and an Inuzuka, the result was children born with fierce loyalty that pledged to defend the main house and the strength to do so. My branch was born from the love between a civilian and an Uzumaki, which was the reason we were not the most important part of the clan.

The third Hokage narrowed his eyes slightly. Of course he had known about the branch system, he had heard about it from tip to toe when Kushina had gotten into a nostalgic mood. The fact that this man knew about it either meant he was telling the truth or that he had done his research in great detail. He shifted slightly in his chair as his eyes slowly drifted towards the mission file that had been assigned to team seven.

\- I see, and why are you looking for clan members... Are you... Trying to reclaim Whirlpool country ?

After the fall of the land's main millitary defense, Uzushiogakure, the Daimyo's forces which mainly consisted of Samuraï and a few handful of ninja were slowly whittled away by poverty, famin and bandits. The previously famous land situated far off the coast of wave country was now refered to as ' The land of the lost '. According to rumours the Uzumaki seals that controled the deadly tides that surrounded the island went out of control after the deaths of their creators, completly cutting the place off from the outside world. No one was sure what the place was like now but the last message they had received from the place was that their daimyo had been assassinated.

\- You think i'm try to amass skilled fuinjutsu masters and fighters to retake our homeland ? That place has nothing left for us except a lot of corpses to burry. No, i'm simply trying to reunite my family and maybe find a fresh start.

\- Well ... You don't seem to have done well thus far ... The elderly man's eyes fell upon Inutsuna, if you've only managed to track down two children.

The look that Ryou sent at the Hokage was as sharp as a kunnai's blade that had been embued with wind chakra. Any other man would have at least shivered under the gaze but Hiruzen Sarutobi was not called the god of shinobi for Nothing.

\- Inutsuna himself decided to become my assisstant, the five others that i have found so far are themselves out looking for our family.

Hiruzen realised that the conversation was at an impass, the back and forth that had been going on until now was wearing thin and neither saw a way out of this. Ryou was adamant on at least meeting his relative, which was dangerous even without taking the boy's status into concideration and Hiruzen's grandfatherly instincs wanted to protect the boy at all costs not to mention his leader's instincs that told him he could not let a foreign entity interact with the village's trump card. Once again at the thought of the blue eyed, blond haired ball of energy his eyes drifted to the C ranked mission file.

In a deus ex machina fashion an Anbu suddenly seemed to phase into reality next to him. The man completly dressed in black leened down to his leader's ear and whispered something that seemed to make the Kage both frown and smile slightly. It was a risky gambit if Ryou did have ulterior motives but Kakashi was with them so he was sure it would be fine. The elderly kage smirked.

\- Naruto-kun's team has just run into two missing nin on their first C-ranked mission to the land of waves boosting the ranking up to B... Normaly with Kakashi Hatake, their sensei, there i wouldn't bother sending backup... But if you are really intent on seeing Naruto-kun as soon as possible then i suppose you could back them up.

And in a single phrase Hiruzen had not only confirmed that Naruto was not fully trained and announced that Kakashi Hatake of the Sharingan, one of Konoha's strongest jounin was there. If Ryou's intent was to capture the boy he would surely use this opportunity but he would be visibly hesitant due to Kakashi being mentioned. Hiruzen picked up his pipe, filled it with tabaco and lit it as he would when he assumed he had won a conversation... rarely was his judgment wrong.

\- I see... Inutsuna, how long would it take you to run there and sniff out Naruto-san's team ?

\- Weeellll ... I suppose about three hours or so ?

Hiruzen suddenly choked on the smoke he had just inhaled as his eyes widened slighlty. Even one of his best jounin at full speed would take at least half a day, maybe more, to get to wave country. Hiruzen's gaze turned to Ryou with several questions but they were all anwsered quickly by the man's smirk.

\- That's that then, Inutsuna will got meet up with Naruto-san's team and bring them back as soon as possible. Meanwhile i will stay here and explore the village a little more.

Hiruzen had lost... The professor had lost a battle of wits... His objective was to find out wether Ryou Yamada had any ill intentions towards Naruto Uzumaki. He had the luck to be able to set up a scenario to find out exactly that and Ryou had in one fell swoop proved that he had no intension of harming the boy by turning _himself_ into a hostage and had rendered the Hokage's plan useless.

As Hiruzen watched the dark haired man leave his office he frowned heavily and as soon as the door closed he clicked his fingers to call upon his Anbu.

\- I want three of you surveying him at all times, if he sticks even a toe outside the village i am to be informed. Boar, i want you to gather any information you can on Ryou Yamada of the Uzumaki clan... Now go !


	2. Chapter 2

Children had very good instincs... Maybe that was why Ryou liked them so much. He truely admired them because, in a sense, they were perfect. Children were energetic yet weak, trusting yet perceptive, naive and yet they knew when something was off. They had the qualities of an adult and yet there was a sort of innocence that an adult could never have. Maybe that was why he admired them because despite how young someone looked on the outside, the mind never stays the same.

A young boy had a finger in his mouth as he staired up at the tall dark haired man who was trying his best to polietly ignore the boy by gazing through a shop window with his hands in his pockets.

\- Hey mister ! The boy started rudly with his finger still firmly in his mouth, why are you wearing that mirror 'round your neck ?

Ryou turned to the boy, his eyes settled onto the boys eyes and in that second the Uzumaki clan member felt as if the boy _saw_ everything. But despite the feeling he put on his disarming smile and anwsered as politly as possible.

\- This mirror is a good luck charm to ward off demons !

As Ryou said that the boy's face morphed into an expression that looked like he had sucked on a lemon.

\- My mommy said the only demon that really exists is that blond haired boy ! Dummy !

And with that the boy ran away, perceptive and yet way too trusting... Their parents aren't angels that only tell the truth.

\- What did he mean by that i wonder ?

Ryou decided it would be best not to dwell on it and instead continued to look through the window of the shop... It was only now that he realised the shop was for womens lingerie and that people had started whispering... Ryou's cheeks flushed bright red as he rightfully decided it was best he moved on.

The streets were pack pretty full with civilians but Inutsuna had been right, the millitary precense was heavy even without counting the hidden shadows that were scattered around the place. Ryou's mind then traveled to his devoted assisstant, the boy would be arriving in wave by now and he had probably already latched onto the scent of his relative. But Ryou knew not to dwell on it for too long, Inutsuna could handle most advesaries, as long as they weren't the type to use genjutsu he would be fine.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

He loved his master and not like a boy and a girl love each other. The only thing Inutsuna could relate it too was the love a dog had for his master. Of course the boy could never truely understand that he loved the man like a father because he had never had one.

And so when his master ordered him to do something he would follow it to the letter but when it meant abandonning his master's side he had learnt to do it as fast as possible so that he could regain his place next to Ryou-sama.

This may have meant that the dog-like boy was a little 'over enthusiastic' to put it kindly. So when he smelt his relative and felt an ominous chakra not ten meters away he launched into battle like a water bullet.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Today things hadn't been going too badly for Kakashi Hatake. It was his team's first C ranked mission and his students had taken down two B ranked missing ninja... However in the process he was certain his blonde haired student's pride had suffered a fatal blow. But the motivated look in his clear blue eyes as he diligently scanned the forest around their employer was rewarding to the white haired teacher.

His silent footsteps barely made a noise compared to those of his unexperienced students which in turn when compared to that of the stomping civilian were quiet as mice.

Their client was called Tazuna, a civilian bridge builder who apparently was trying to save his country, that had been blockaded by a 'business tycoon' named Gato, by connecting it to the mainland. He was tall and completly towered over the genin that were guarding him. Despite his gray hair and glasses he had a young air about him, maybe due to his tanned smooth skin. He wore a big heavy backpack and had a strange straw hat on that spiked up into the air.

Surrounding their charge was Kakashi's cute little genin, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno and last but not least Naruto Uzumaki.

Sasuke Uchiha was to put it lightly quite arrogant when it came to his prowess as a ninja. His arrogance was both well placed and misplaced. It was true for a genin he was strong and talented but put him infront of a jounin, let alone even the weakest of Anbu, and the boy was but a child. He wore a blue shirt with a high collar that had the Uchiha crest emblazoned on the back which resembled a fan. The rest of his clothing including his headband was what any gennin could get their hands on; standard issue ninja sandals, bandage wraps, arm warmers, a shuriken pouch on his hip and a kunnai holster on his leg.

The boy was walking cooly with his hands in his pockets but his sharp eyes and tense disposition showed that he was ready for anything.

Sakura Haruno was dressed in a red kimono like dress and black spandex. Like her Uchiha teammate she also had the standard issue sandals and headband however the girl seemingly decided that a shurkien pouch was unnecesary or would get in the way as she only had a kunnai holster. Along with the unnecessarily long red dress she also had unnecessarily long pink hair that went down to the small of her back.

The girl was as tense as a cable that was being used in a tug of war between two kage, her body seemed to twitch at even the slightest noise and her eyes went from one part of the forest to another and sometimes would settle on her dark haired comrade.

Naruto Uzumaki however was completly diffrent in this instance. Despite his bright 'kill me' orange jumpsuit he seemingly faded into the background, his footsteps were also quieter than his teammates, he was almost as quiet as his sensei which the man took note of and the boy was unconsciously masking his chakra signature, something that in general only chunin or higher learnt to do.

These genin were all special in their own way in the eyes of Kakashi: Sasuke, the perfect mold for a mid-ranged ninjutsu fighter that could serve as backup for his teammates. Naruto, the perfect heavy hitter slash hit and run shinobi with his shadow clone jutsu and Sakura the perfect blank slate, ready to be molded into anything he could imagin.

It was a sudden noise and a knee jerk reaction that set of a very distressing series of events. The noise being a bush rustling and the knee jerk reaction being Naruto tossing a shuriken at said noise. As the boy silently parted the bushes to reveal that the source of the noise had been a snow white rabbit. As soon as Kakashi saw it his mind's gears started spinning quickly and a single word popped into his mind.

\- Ambush !

The sound of something cutting through the air at high speeds was the sudden and only warning the genin got to hit the deck. Sakura had unfortunately been too slow in reacting and the blade was heading straight for her neck.

It was a flash of light and a metalic scraping sound that alerted everyone that the now visibly huge blade had been blocked by someone. Everything froze as Kakashi's eyes tryed to make out who the small frame behind the huge blade belonged to. One of his students? Not possible.

The Blade was redirected and ended up flying harmlessly past the small group however a huge intimidating man was there to catch it before it had the chance to indent itself into the wood. Despite the huge size of the blade the masked man rested it onto his shoulder as if it were a simple katana.

\- Nice. The gruff voice started, I wasn't expecting someone to block my blade with such ease... Oh? But what is this ? Did the demon brothers miscount? They swore there was only five of you... Meh, that just means i get to kill an extra person.

Despite his words the missing ninja before them seemed on edge, he had _really_ not expected anyone to be able to stop his blade, especially not one of the brats. Zabuza Momochi scanned the boy before him and took note of his rather relaxed apearance and forever excited demeanor.

\- Oh Boy! I thought this was gonna' be boring, what with it being a B ranked mission and all, but i never expected to run into Zabuza Momochi of all people! My master said to make things quick but I think i'd like to drag this out as long as possible !

The words of the small boy seemed to anger the brute before him which in hindsight might not have been the smartest thing to do.

\- Mhf, let's see if you _can_ drag this out brat !

Despite the man's large size he moved fast however nowhere near as fast as Inutsuna, the boy's small frame along with his versatile flexibility allowed him to move fast enough to weave inbetween the huge shinobi's attacks.

Now as Kakashi had said, his day hadn't been going badly but now it was just going _weird._ Had Hokage-sama sent backup? If so why in gods name would he send a kid? Those thoughts were pushed aside however in favore of observing the young boy as he clashed with his enemy, zanbato against tanto, and realised that the boy didn't have a headband.

\- Don't leave me out of the fun... Besides how would I look to my cute little genin if i didn't even fight a little ?

Zabuza leapt away from the quick little brat and turned to gaze at the jounin that was also now threatening to join in.

\- Tssk, I was hoping I wouldn't have to use my trump card right off the bat but oh well... Haku you take care of the brat while I fight the copy nin over there.

\- You think i'd let you get away ?

Inutsuna flashed towards his target but was suddenly forced to leap backwards as a hail of senbon stuck into the ground between himself and Zabuza.

\- I'm you're opponent now.

Inutsuna wanted to swear, despite his jovial statement he really had wanted to get this over with as soon as possible... But maybe that wouldn't be so simple.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Kakashi was stood in a defensive stance with his kunnai drawn from its sheeth, the things were made of strudy metal, chakra conductive stuff that came from the heart of the most chakra saturated areas on earth. It was said that the first chakra conductive metal was found in a large crater which had, in legend, been host to the god tree. As time went along and the world evolved many more sources of the chakra conductive metal were found.

Kakashi's eyes drifted up to the zanbato that was currently resting on the shoulder of his advesary, the legendary Executioner's Blade. One of the swords that belonged to the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. The kid had said his name but only now as Kakashi was analysing the blade did he realise that the man before him was truely Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist.

The silence that reigned as Kakashi and Zabuza each analysed one another was tangible. Ninja battles were not generaly fought and won with big jutsu or crazy moves infact the deciding factor was rarely stamina or strength but speed and accuracy. Maybe that was why Kakashi was so calm in the face of the intimidating man who hid his face with bandage wraps. Apart from said bandage wraps on his face and the abnormaly long heaband that was twisted to the side with a scrape accross the mist symbol, the tall muscular man was dressed rather simply with a black sleeveless shirt that matched his pants along with a waist guard and the traditional striped Mist leg and arm warmers.

Kakashi was in comparison very simple looking with his standard jounin flak jacket worn above a dark blue long sleeved shirt and similarly colored pants. The only distinguishing features of his closet were his face mask, headband and steel plated fingerless gloves.

Kakashi felt the chakra start emanating from Zabuza as the man prepared for a jutsu but the white haired man reacted quickly, he tossed a shuriken at the tall man forcing him to dodge. The _second_ Zabuza's feet left the ground Kakashi reacted, sending chakra to his feet and bursting forwards with speed that went with the title of jounin, he brought his kunnai into a sideways slash aimed at cutting the missing nin's gut open however the ex-Mist shinobi blocked the strike with the handle of his massive blade. As the sound of metal against metal rung in his ears, Zabuza attempted to bring his large blade down onto Kakashi's now exposed back. The white haired ninja was fast to react, spinning in the air with a simple kick to the ground he slammed his Kunnai into the side of the executioner's blade. Zabuza used his blade like a fly swat and pushed the annoying jounin away with a flick of his wrist.

Kakashi landed soflty on his feet as the stare down resumed between the two, each trying to determin the other's weakness. The sound from the fight between their allies began ringing out in the large clearing and just like that they set them off to kill each other, the sound of metal against metal sounded out once again rather loudly.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Sasuke wasn't sure how to react to all of this, the young Uchiha had been on a high from defeating the demon brothers when suddenly his team and their client had been ambushed. Sasuke cursed as he remembered the moment a boy younger than him had stopped the huge blade from decapitating his pink haired teammate. How was he so much stronger than him, Sasuke _Uchiha_ ? The black haired avenger had trained, day in, day out. He had trained until his vision was blurry, his mind numb and his muscles torn... And yet he was now _attempting_ to watch the fight between a ten year old brat and a twelve year old his age. Their moves were so fast that he could barely follow them as the blonde haired boy slowly whittled away at the strange black haired hunter-nin. Sasuke had not once felt so utterly outclassed by someone his own age, and he knew he was outclassed without even fighting with either of them. A strange mixture of feelings clouded Sasuke's mind, envy, jealousy, anger and... Sadness.

Sakura watched as her sensei took another blunt hit from the large executioner's blade, the shock wave from that type of attack must have at least done some damage to his muscles by now even if it hadn't broken a bone, however Kakashi had managed to get a good punch in on the missing ninja. Her brow creased as she frowned slightly, she wasn't entierly sure what use her team was in this situation, the two battles that were going on were completly out of their league, if they tried to join in they would probably become collatoral damage. However the pink haired girl's sharp eyes picked up on the fact that 'Haku', as Zabuza had called the person, was slowing down, it would seem that despite her speed and accuracy with the senbon she was not made for long winded battles. Just as she was thinking about asking her teamates wether they should join in she saw both Sasuke and Naruto leap into battle.

The sudden blows that hadn't originated from him did not manage to suprise the blue eyed boy however he did take advantage of his opponent's suprise to slice some ligaments in their arm. As both Naruto and Sasuke landed next to Inutsuna the young boy couldn't help but smile.

\- Nice Kick Orange-san, little on the slow and clumsy side but it did the trick... Black-san you seemed a little too intent on harming the enemy and didn't take into account the return...

Inutsuna didn't have to fully word what he meant as the young Uchiha pulled out the senbon that had embedded itself into his hand. Before he could respond to the comment or question the boy's naming scheme Zabuza suddenly apeared behind his ally, one hand slinging his blade onto his shoulder while the other rested peacefully at his side. Despite his relaxed position the man seemed to send a furtive glance at his allies arm, an unknown emotion flashed on his face for a mere second but it was gone as fast as it had apeared. A Second later Kakashi was stood behind the three children who had launched their attacks onto the fake hunter-nin.

\- We're leaving Haku... For now !

The dark laughter that was left behind as both enemies disapeared in a sudden flash of light was slightly spine chilling. Kakashi didn't exactly know what would happen when they got to the land of waves but he wasn't looking forward to it. The Leaf ninja's single eye drifted to the mysterious boy who had saved one of his students, said boy was currently wiping his blade with a piece of cloth.

\- Who are you ?

The young blonde blinked as he turned his gaze up towards the tall white haired man, a broad smile that Kakashi could have easily mistaken for one of Naruto's plastered on his face.

\- Name's Inutsuna, i'm here on behalf of Ryou-sama to hurry your mission along so that Naruto Uzumaki can return to the village... Now which one of you is Naruto-san? Master told me what he looks like but i kinda forgot !

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Ryou was still roaming the streets as the sun started to set and he had taken note of several things. Not long after he had talked to the child he had noticed that not many people were friendly when they saw a stranger, they didn't openly express any hatred and some even smilled sometimes but he could feel the caution whenever he talked to someone. His hand dug around in the plastic bag he was holding finnaly fishing out a small red candy. He tossed the small red treat into his mouth and began sucking on it, Ryou did really enjoy all of the foreign sweets that he tasted on his journey but he never could find ones like... Well that didn't really matter. He smilled brightly as the sweet flavor invaded his mouth, slowly his thoughts drifted towards the other things he had discovered.

He knew the hidden leaf had been formed from the unisson of the Senju and Uzumaki clan what he hadn't known was that the hidden leaf had taken the spiral of the Uzumaki clan, painted it red and now used it as a symbol for their jounin and chunin. Something deep within Ryou stirred each time he saw it on one of their clueless backs. He had asked one of the Jounin wether he knew what the symbol meant and the man had simply remplied that it represented his loyalty to the village. Infact barely anyone reacted positively to the name Uzumaki in this village, it was strange when they heard his name they seemed to be in disbelief about something. Unlike when he had visited Lightning country or Wind country, everyone there had known of the name Uzumaki, some reacted to it with fear, some with awe but none with hatred like that of some of the civilian populace in Konoha. It worried Ryou to a certain degree, did they hate the name Uzumaki or... Did they hate the thing they assossiated with the name Uzumaki... Ryou didn't want to think about it.

Ryou decided that the small park he had ended up wondering through was nice enough and so he took a seat on a bench that was sat under a particularly beautiful cherry blosom tree. He slowly let his mind rest as he thought over everything under the comforting aroma that the tree seemed to emit, it was like a soft blanket was wrapping his body in warmth. His mind drifted from his past to his progress towards his goal and dream. As soon as Inutsuna returned with Naruto he would talk to the Hokage again.

\- Speak of the devil...

The elderly man seemed diffrent as he approached, he no longer adorned his Hokage hat, revealing his half bald head. The pipe that was currently resting in his hand gave off a smoky scent that despite being horrible for his health probably reassured the elderly man. It was strange the way something so horrible could seem so comforting in the right hands. Ryou supposed that could be said for a lot of things.

\- Ryou-kun... May i sit next to you?

The dark haired Uzumaki saw no harm in indulging the elderly kage and so he smilled brightly and tapped the bench next to him. As soon as the professor sat down there was a change, a shift in the air around him. It was no longer the comforting air that had been surrounding seconds before, neither was it the attitude that he had when they first met... It was almost consoling...

\- Ryou-kun... I had my Anbu investigate your past... But before that i had one of my sensors report back to me... They couldn't feel your chakra... at all...

Ryou tensed slightly as he realised what was coming next. The Hyuga clan resided in Konoha so no doubt the village leader had asked one to take a glimps while he was wandering around in town. It would seem he had been foolish to think that he would escape a meeting with a Kage without having some heart-wrenching memories dredged up.

\- What happened- No, i shouldn't ask that as I already know... The messages we received a little before the fall of Uzushio... It said that a single man was keeping the armies of Kumo and Suna at bay...

Flashes of hazy memories returned to Ryou, memories of blood and death... Memories of suffering... He had killed _so_ many... No he couldn't go back there. If he did, he wasn't sure if he could climb back out like he had back then...

\- You paid a price during that war didn't you ? As did many... We thought you had paid with your life... We were certain of it, no single man could hold back an army for four days straight let alone two armies of fully trained chunin and jounin... How many were there ? If my memory serves me right there were a good thousand shinobi altogether... Barely Three hundred made it home...

Ryou's brown eyes became dark, almost as black as coal. His eyes flashed over to the elderly man sat next to him. His eyes were no longer that of the smilling young man the hokage had seen enter his office, neither were they the eyes of the smirking tactition that had out smarted one of the smartest men on earth... No these were the eyes of a hunter, a predator, an animal.

\- The Kamikaze of Uzu... You lost your chakra on the fourth day didn't you ? Tsunade called it 'Tenketsu Implosion' I believe. The repeated use of the chakra network combined with the extreme abuse of soldier pills and opening the fourth gate of pain leading to a colapse of the tenketsu subsequently causing a blowback into the chakra coils... Yes, unfortunatly 'implosion' is an appropriate term.

The dark hair atop the Uzumaki's head caused a shadow to fall over his eyes. His left hand uncontiously gripped at his right arm, the memories of unending pain exploding from every pore of his body. A sour chuckled echoed out of Ryou's mouth, which had settled into a thin line something the Hokage knew was out of place on the man's face.

\- Most people would have died. That would have been a blessing, the excruciating pain of having your entire chakra network blown apart by your own chakra from the inside out... Every molecule of my chakra network destroying itself... Any other pain feels like a slight prick from an insect in comparison... My Uzumaki blood ensured that i survived by making my body no longer rely on the chakra... If any doctor saw my insides they would call me a freak... My organs were made to survive using blood and chakra... But now they only survive on blood, my Uzumaki blood... The downside is that i have to eat _a lot_ of food to stay alive...

\- Yet you still wish to reform the clan ? People like you... They usualy end up hating their bloodline and become bloodline hunters...

For the first time since the man had lowered his head he saw Ryou's eyes as he looked up at him. Unlike the instinctual eyes that he had seen before these seemed burned with a purpose.

\- I sacrificed _everything_ to let the people of Uzushiogakure escape... I was weak for ten years after it happened, barely able to move at all for the first two years... But during that time I tried to find out anything i could about refugees from my village, I swore that I would find them and protect them... Just as i thought i had found a group of my people... The _third shinobi world war_ began...

He spat out the words like a poison. Images of charred corpses and broken women flashed into his mind, his hand almost breaking the park benche's arm rest. However before it could break something took the wind out of Ryou's sails as he rested back into the bench, his eyes seeming to dull slightly, almost as if he had suddenly remembered something more.

\- It was Leaf ninja...

The Hokage flinched as he tried to fully comprehend the words, as if they were foreign to him. He couldn't have said what Hiruzen thought he had, it wasn't possible no matter how you looked at it.

\- I'm not sure of their motives. Might've been you who ordered it, i dunno... What I do know is that those bastards never made it back to their village, even in my weakened state I made them suffer before letting 'em die... Just like they had done to the refugy camp... It's why i've been avoiding this place...

The Hokage wracked his aged brain trying to remember... He couldn't, he had never heard of any refugee camps being destroyed save for the ones just outside of the hidden leaf and they had only been taken down because there was no one left in them...

It was a little flash of something, a memory, a piece of paper, a few written words... Something he had ignored at the time... But now as he forced his brain to remember, forced his neurons to connect, he realised how important that piece of paper was, the one that he had idly observed over the shoulder of a certain person .

\- The camp was near hidden grass wasn't it ?

It had been a terrible incident, it was the first time the hidden leaf was empolying radios on the battlefield. They had proven exceedingly useful in testing, able to talk to someone who was miles away from you was an incredible advantage on a battlefield and the idea of being able to send orders from the village to the front lines almost instantly was something that quickly aided in convincing the fourth Hokage to employ the use of the technology... What hadn't been known was the heavy disruptions caused by the use of chakra and the ease that the ennemy could interfer with the signals when they were disrupted ... After the events the scientists of the hidden leaf had said that the radios used 'radio waves' in order to communicate but that most chakra functioned on the same sort of frequency... The use of radio waves in anything ninja related was scrapped after an incident with a portable microwave exploding and killing two ninja...

Iwagakure had been sending troups to capture and kill the refugies of the camp... The fourth had sent a message to send troups to protect the camp... Something happened to the message when it was sent, wether it was due to distortions or due to the ennemy sending fake messages was unknown.

\- That was a tragic accident caused by a confusion in the chain of command.

Those dangerous eyes were back and on full blast, if looks could kill that park would have been set on fire and everything alive in it would have turned to dust.

\- A tragic accident !? Attempted genocide was what it was ! They had gone through hell ! And they thought that that they were finnaly safe, at arms length of their _allies_ ! I can imagin the looks of reassurance as they saw _your_ ninja approach them and i can imagin the looks of betrayal as _your_ ninja killed and raped _my_ people.

Ryou's words cut into Hiruzen like a hot knife through butter, nothing he could say or do could reconsile the man before him. Hiruzen rose from his sitting position slowly, he could feel his Anbu guards tensing, preparing to strike the man down. What had the world come to when a grieving man couldn't express his emotions without someone preparing to kill him 'just in case'.

\- There i nothing i could possibly do to fix what happened... But know that if you are looking for a fresh start for your clan... The hidden leaf would gladly welcome you with open arms.

\- Let's just hope there isn't a kunnai hidden up one of its sleeves.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

\- So do you mind telling us exactly why you came to our rescue, i know what you said about Naruto earlier but that can't be the whole reason right ? Surely your 'Ryou-sama' could have waited until we returned from our mission ?

Kakashi was sat on a log with Inutsuna next to him, his team currently out scouring for sticks to add to the fire that was providing a little light under the moonlit sky. The supprisingly gentle snoring of Tazuna being almost the only sound in the small clearing the group had set up camp in, it wasn't too far away from where they had fought Zabuza and his ally, accoarding to Tazuna it wouldn't take long to reach the river but Kakashi wanted every one to rest and recover, he wasn't sure what would happen when they reached wave.

\- Ryou-sama wants to meet Naruto Uzumaki, that's all ! Of course he would send me, his loyal assisstant to hurry your mission along... He also said something about out witting the Hokage and that was why i had to go but I didn't really listen to that part...

\- For all the admiration you show towards your master you don't seem to listen to him very well do you ?

Kakashi eye smilled slightly despite being completly lost. He had almost no clue what the hyperactive boy was talking about. He pretended to read his little orange book as he studied Inutsuna as closely as he could. There was a sudden rustling of a bush behind them and out lept a blur of Orange that plopped down on the log next to Inutsuna with his arms absolutly full of sticks.

\- Hey! did someone mention my name again ?

\- One's enough ! Ah sorry it's just Naruto... You two look way too much alike...

Inutsuna sweat dropped at the man's strange attitude but passed it off as being that thing where the stronger the person the weirder they were... That rule didn't apply to Ryou-sama however. Inutsuna looked at his fellow blonde and scratched his cheek, the hair color and the eyes were there but...

\- He's got whiskers ! I don't have those... And he wears that aweful jumpsuit! I'm trying to resemble my wonderful master, not an orange !

\- Yeah but you act like a dog... All you're missing is ears and you'd look like Naruto from a parallel universe... That reminds me of something from Icha Icha.

The perverted giggle that echoed out of the jonin's mouth only strengthened Inutsuna's suspisions about the little orange book the white haired man had been reading for a while. Naruto just scratched his head in confusion after having chucked his sticks onto the ground. He turned fully towards the young dog like boy and narrowed his eyes with his hand on his chin.

\- Anyway watcha' want with me ? You don't look like anyone I know... And i'm good with faces!

\- You are Naruto Uzumaki right, not anyone else? Well I'm Inutsuna Uzumaki !

Kakashi didn't outwardly react but inside alarm bells were going off in his head. His single eye that was normaly fixated on his precious was now turned fully to observe the young boy. They had traveled a short distance together to their current camping spot but the boy hadn't yet said his family name instead he had been leaping around making sure no one else was lurking in the tree line trying to flank them or ambush them.

There was another rustling sound and this time it was Sakura that came out of the bushes, she seemed to have more twigs sticking out of her messy pink hair than she had in her arms.

\- Naruto-baka, i didn't know you had a brother ?

Naruto hid the elation he was feeling under a confused gaze as he studied his fellow blond. But Kakashi had caught that joy and it was something that almost broke him. If this Inutsuna was lying, well you wouldn't want to stand inbetween Kakashi and him. The sound of sticks being added to the growing pile distracted him from his thoughts however.

\- I don't... At least i don't think i do...

It's true that seing as he was an orphan he didn't know wether or not he had a brother. But the confused look on Inutsuna's face said that there was something else that he was missing.

\- I mean we might be related distantly but not necessarily... The Uzumaki clan was really big accoarding to Ryou-sama...

Once again the pleasant sound of sticks being added to the now quite large pile resounded through the clearing, the silent Uchiha had entered the clearing with a frown having been the last to return but he had still managed to heard some of the conversation.

\- The Uzumaki clan ? There's no way the dead last is a part of a clan.

There was something in Sasuke's voice that confused Inutsuna. The words were not said with any malice, infact he sounded almost hopeful. Maybe he wanted Naruto to have a clan ? However why the young Uchiha would want that was completly beyond Inutsuna's mental capabilities.

\- What do ya mean there's no way he's a part of a clan! Do you guys know nothing? Are ya' even genin? Whadaya think the red spiral on Shiro-san's jacket is?

There was sudden an awkward silence in the air as even Sakura didn't fully comprehend what the boy meant. Kakashi sighed slightly, there was no avoiding this, no amount of his sweet talk and cool attitude would be able to deviate the conversation.

\- It's the Uzumaki Spiral...

Kakashi's single eye seemed composed but inside he felt sadness tug at his heart. Naruto would find out and when he did he would resent him for not having told him sooner.

\- It's true Naruto... You... You had a Clan...

Naruto's eyes widened and Sasuke's Narrowed to the point that his black pupils were almost completly indistinguishable from his grey irises.

\- Sensei... You said 'Had'...

Sasuke's voice came out alot colder than he meant it to. It was as if his breath was going to turn the humidity in the air to ice.

\- The Uzumaki clan had been based in Uzushiogakure no sato... But during the second great shinobi war it was destroyed by Suna and Kumo... A lot of people managed to escape but... During the third great shinobi war there were several incidents and the number of known Uzumaki clan members diminished drasticaly... Infact by the time i was ten there were only three Uzumaki left in the village.

Naruto looked over at his sensei, past Inutsuna, with bright wide eyes with a shine to it that gave away the existance of tears that wanted desperatly to escape.

\- So i wasn't just given a random name as an orphan? Who were my parents then? O-one of them m-must have been one of t-those three you mentioned right? So who was it?

The look in the blonde child's eyes tore away at Kakashi's heart, he wanted to tell him, he desperatly wanted to. But the Hokage would punish him...

So what ? A niggling little voice whispered in his mind. Who cares what he thinks or says? Naruto Deserves to know! The voice became louder and louder until it was almost deafening.

\- It was Kushina Uzumaki... She truely loved you but she-

\- She's dead aswell isn't she ?

Naruto's voice was so quiet and yet it was the only thing Kakashi could hear in the clearing. Before the white haired man could say anything else the orange clad boy staggered off into the forest, his vision blurry but tears still refused to fall.

Each person watched him leave with a diffrent emotion in their mind. Sasuke and Inutsuna observed with understanding. But Kakashi and Sakura could only feel sadness and regret.

Inutsuna raised from his sitting position and darted off to find his relative, a distant memory tugging at the back of his mind.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Ryou was still sat on the bench, only a single shadow was watching him now and for some reason the dark haired man could sense it was hesitating. Ryou's tired eyes looked up at where it was and he could practicaly feel it flinch slightly. He didn't know what he looked like right now but he knew that his eyes looked scary when he got into one of his moods.

\- You should accept Hokage-sama's offer... I don't think anyone else would be inclined to give you such a good deal.

Ryou Met the eyes of the man who spoke, his form finnaly becoming visible as he stepped out of the shadows. The man infront of him was hidden under a black cloak and a white porcelain mask, he stood a good seven feet tall, towering over Ryou who was sat down. Despite his massive height it didn't seem strange because of his muscular frame that went well with his height. The handle of a huge blade stuck over his shoulder, indicating that he was definatly strong if nothing else. Upon the mask were a few red etched lines, an upsidown triangle where the nose was as well as a few flecks of colour along the sides of the mask were obviously meant to depict a bear of some sort.

\- I... I know that...

Bear, as he was known in Anbu, was proud to be in the top ten most deadly shinobi of the village, however he had attemped to retire many times but he always seemed to return due to the fact that he hated the idea that if he did not fight other people would die in his place. He had fought in many of the greatest battles of the great third shinobi war and had even fought along side the yellow flash of Konoha. He had also been a part of what he could only call the worst 'clusterfuck' in the history of shinobi.

\- I fought in Kusa.

The words were said without much emotion but Ryou could hear the sadness in the tall man's voice. The massive Anbu moved closer to the dark haired man and sat on the bench next to him.

\- It was hell... At first everything had been going fine, me and my squad joined up with a group of Kusa shinobi, everyone had been managing to hold off the Iwa shinobi at their assigned locations. But then the ennemy started using guerrilla warfare... There were countless raids on Kusagakure's weapon stockpiles, Iwa shinobi redistributed the weapons to Kusa civilians along with propaganda, turning the village's civilian populace against their own shinobi and us, those who weren't convinced by the propaganda were kidnapped or raped to instill fear... We had ennemies at our fronts and our backs... Then came the disaster with the radios, after that the fighting had gone on for a while the air had began to saturate with chakra, the damn things either stopped working or worse began to malfunction... It must have been one of Iwa's scientists that exploited the weakness... They started sending out fake messages, fake orders... It was hell, my squad was ordered to execute the Kusa shinobi we had been working with up until then... I wouldn't stand for it... But my allies had diffrent ideas, they were loyal shinobi, too loyal... They couldn't fathom that the messages we were receiving weren't from our supperiors... In the end I killed my own squad trying to protect the Kusa shinobi who were only guilty of defending their village... But my squad wasn't the only one who had received this sort of order, hundreds of people found themselves with kunnai, tanto or even jutsu piercing their backs... We had ennemies infront of us, at our backs and even by our sides...

The silence that reigned as Bear finnished his tale was heavy and opressing. Something about it reminded the anbu of when they had received the twisted orders.

\- You managed to get out of that unscathed ?

Bear let out a sour chuckled, one that resembled almost exaclty the sound that had escaped Ryou's lips in his conversation with the Hokage.

\- Unscathed? Definatly not...

Bear poked his arms out from under his cloak and he slowly undid the protective Anbu arm guard that was tied onto his right arm. He rolled his black sleave up to reveal the horribly scarred skin that had been hidden underneath it. Ryou didn't gasp or flinch at the sight, he had seen worse, but a look of understanding crossed his face.

\- Kusa's famous for using poison... That you probably know... What you don't know is that some shinobi developped poisons that melted anything and everything it came into contact with...

From the looks of his arm had bits of metal that had fused with the skin and hadn't been removed in time, his forearm was in the worst state however, it looked to be made out of pure metal due to the arm guard that had fused with his bone.

\- So from one human who's been in the jaws of hell to another... Don't turn down an offer to camp outside the pearly gates, even if you know you'll never walk through them...

The large man rose and sighed slightly before disapearing and Ryou for the first time in a long time was completly alone, no Inutsuna and no shadows following him... He sat there and thought long and hard.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

 **I despise 'author's notes' above all else but i find it a necessity to clarify a few things. Ryou Yamada is, in all medical senses of the term 'young'. His body, organs, everything. They're that of a twenty six year old man. However his brain, despite also being that of a twenty six year old man in terms of brain matter, contains the knlowledge of a fifty six year old human. A human that has lived through two wars. Oh yeah, because i'm not entierly sure of the Naruto timeline i simply thought to myself 'Okay, i'll do it myself then' and decided that the second great shinobi war lasted two years with a ten year gap between it and the third great shinobi war.** **Uzushiogakure no sato was destroyed in the middle of the second great shinobi war however the land of whirlpools only fell at the very begining of the third shinobi world war:.**

 **In my mind The alliances were as follows :**

 _ **Second great shinobi world war :**_

 **\- Konohagakure, Uzushiogakure, Takigakure, Tanigakure and Kusagakure**

 **\- Kumogakure, Sunagakure, Iwagakure, Amegakure, and Shimogakure**

 _ **Neutral Villages :**_

 **\- Kirigakure,** **Yugakure,** **Land of Claws, Land of Fangs, Land of Snow, Land of Iron and the Land of Tea**

 _ **Third great shinobi world war :**_

 **-Konohagakure, Kusagakure(First Half), Sunagakure(Second Half), Takigakure and Tanigakure**

 **-Iwagakure, Kusagakure(Second Half)**

 **\- Sunagakure(First Half) and Amegakure(First Half)**

 **\- Kumogakure, Kirigakure, Shimogakure**

 _ **Neutral Villages :**_

 **\- Yugakure, Amegakure(Second Half), Land of Claws, Land of Fangs, Land of Snow and the Land of Tea**

 **It also needs to be said that Daimyos do have armies of Samuraï with maybe a few ninja here and there but they are not in anyway representatives of their country, be it millitarily, economicaly or politicaly. Daimyo are simply very rich people who have alot of land and enough money to pay samuraï and ninja alike to protect it. It is however true that they are a large source of income for hidden villages due to them hiring the ninja of their respective village and do hold alot of power because of this. The** **only** **reason Sunakagure fell into such poverty and desperation at the loss of the income the daimyo brought was because they are in a desert, not many clients in a bone dry expanse of dust are there ?**

 **Another thing, and i promise this will be the end of my infernal ramblings that only a very small margin of people will read, is that the third great shinobi world war was** **devistating.** **Konoha, one of the five great shinobi villages, was pressured by all opposing parties due to it's geological position right smack bang in the middle of the other four meaning that it had to send genin and academy students to the front lines. Kinda like the hitler youth but i'm not gonna make that comparison 'cause Konoha are the 'good guys'...**

 **Thank you for listening to my ramblings, if you did that is.** **I hope it helped in some way.**


	3. Chapter 3

Hiruzen was sat in his office as the sun rose, the specks of dust that floated in the sunrays were captivating to the elderly kage, each speck could be a memory for him, he had lived for too long. The words of Ryou Yamada had been stuck in his head ever since they had talked in the park, the words had opened up old wounds that had long since closed. He thought his skin had grown to be resistant to those sorts of words but... Konoha had betrayed its long standing ally, they had failed to protect them twice and had tarnished their memory by letting it rot away until very few even knew the name. Regret.

It pained him to admit it but in this instant he felt all of his sixty-eight years of age come hammering down on his old weathered bones. He had made so many mistakes in his long life, leaving Naruto in the orphanage, sending Jiraiya away, letting Asuma join the twelve guardian ninja, letting Tsunade ferment in her misery... In all honesty he even regretted retaking the mantle of Hokage. A heavy sigh escaped his lips as his right hand went to his neck in an attempt at massaging away the growing pain at its base. He could have been enjoying his retirement with what was left of his family by now, maybe he could have even convinced Asuma to come back home instead of staying in an appartement.

The sound of something wooden tapping against the ground that was accompagnied by lalmost silent footsteps warned Hiruzen of the person's arrival before they even opened the door. Said big brown doors were pushed open in one smooth motion and the person behind them stepped in, if he didn't have a cane Hiruzen was sure he wouldn't have heard the footsteps.

\- Hiruzen. It is not like you to look so depressed.

Hiruzen's tired grey eyes drifted up towards the person who had entered. He was greeted to the sight of a heavily bandaged man with an x-shaped scar on his chin who was leaning on a strange carved cane. The man's spiky black hair was made even more so by the bandages that covered half his face.

\- What do you want Danzo ? I'm not in the mood to deal with you.

Danzo frowned slightly, ever since he had ordered Itachi to kill his clan for the good of the village Hiruzen had began distrusting him, sometimes he might even catch a hateful glance being sent his way. It was sad really, true they had been rivals for the longest time but Danzo had still seen Hiruzen as a friend if nothing else. The man slightly adjusted his robes in an attempt to seem less uptight.

\- I was simply checking up on a friend Hiruzen-kun. I had heard that you talked with that new arrival, part of the Uzumaki clan isn't he ?

The Hokage frowned at him, he didn't know how he found these things out but Hiruzen didn't like it, it meant that some of his own Anbu were not loyal to him but to Danzo and that was a frightening idea.

\- I did and he enlightened me as to how i've failed in my duties.

It was Danzo's turn to frown. When the man had failed in obtaining the Hokage's hat, in order to bring about the prosperity of Konoha and subsequently a contiental peace due to none being able to stand against the millitary strength of his village, he had decided that he would aid Hiruzen in achieving the same goal. Even if the bandaged man disagreed with many of his friend's actions he could never say there was no logical explanation behind them. Like the fact that he made sure no one ever touched the container of the kyuubi by ensuring some of his most loyal Anbu were constantly at his side even going so far as to put Kakashi Hatake, an Anbu captain, on the jounin roster in order to have the man teach the kyuubi's Jinchuriki. At first he had thought that it was a waste of valuable resources but he began to reason that if the boy was harmed by civilians or shinobi of the village it would mean the boy would have a twitsted view of Konoha and he would be open to manipulation or might even turn against the village on his own initiative, Danzo could not allow that to happen.

\- If you have previously failed in your duties then you should make sure it never happens again.

Danzo made a good point and Hiruzen knew it, maybe if he was younger that phrase would have put the wind in his sails and made him promise to never let those sorts of things happen again. But Hiruzen was an old man, by shinobi standards he was ancient, the life expectancy of a shinobi was maximum fourty years old and that was low when compared to the life expectancy of Kumo's shinobi which had been boosted up, they had the best medics anyone had ever seen due to the fact that almost everyone had lightning affinities in the country, an affinity which tied in with excellent chakra control. Not to mention that Kumo actualy had a pension system for shinobi that they had adapted from the civilian's system. Hiruzen wished he could put into action something like that in his own village. Why couldnt he do that sort of thing again ?

\- Even if I tried to make all of my wrongs into rights I couldn't. You know better than anyone that I have let the council gain too much power over the years. I have become nothing more than a figure head at this point. The only powers I do have are over my shinobi. At this point i'm no longer the leader of the village, I'm a glorified general at best.

It was true, many diffrent incidents seemed to pile up leeding to a distrust of the previous system where the Hokage held the rights to do whatever he wanted. It was true that no one had yet to abuse the powers they had but in the eyes of the coucil it was but a matter of time until Hiruzen died and someone else took his place, someone who might decided they wanted to do whatever they wanted. Something glinted in Danzo's eyes, nostalgia and sadness drove him to say what he said next with emotions that he thought he had long since locked away.

\- Then regain your political powers, strive to make the village great, make sure that your sucessor is right for when you die. Lay the foundations, make sure they are solid so that future generations can build the walls and the roof ! You don't need to do everything yourself, trust in the next generation, trust that they can achieve what you could not. That is what everyone has done before you. Hashirama left behind his legacy, his will of fire, to those who would strive for peace like he did ! Tobirama took that untamed will of fire and hammered away at it, refining the system his brother had begun and ensuring that the village could prosper without him! Do you not remember? When Tobirama died on the battlefield did he not pass down his will of fire to you ?

\- Danzo, you forget that I already had set the foundations for the next generation and then I passed down my will of fire to Minato... My will died that night...

Danzo's eyes didn't falter at his words, infact they seemed to burn brighter than they had in a long time.

\- My friend, it is you who has forgotten, your will of fire still lives, Naruto Uzumaki still lives, the will of fire was never stomped out, it never could be. Not even the strongest of the tailed beasts could dream of diminishing it! So why do you doubt yourself Hiruzen ?

Something within Hiruzen fell into place, he had awaited the words his friend was speaking for a long time, maybe he hadn't even known himself that he had been waiting for them, but he definitly had. And now a fire that had been going out was rekindled, it was now blazing and Danzo could see it in the Hokage's eyes, Hiruzen Sarutobi was back.

\- Anbu ! Send a message to Jiraiya and Tsunade, call them back to the village ! If Tsunade dosen't come willingly then hunt her down and get Bear-kun to drag her back here.

The words were spoken with something that no one had heard from the man before them in a long time. The words were spoken with determination, one that not even mountains could oppose.

\- If you don't mind me asking Hiruzen-kun but what are you going to be doing ?

The god of shinobi turned to his oldest friend and gave him what could only be described as a 'shit eating grin' something that many would have thought out of place on the old man. Danzo however recognised it as the smile that Hiruzen had when he was young and was plotting something that would make the lives of a lot of people difficult.

\- I'm going to be retaking the power that rightfully belongs to me !

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Naruto sneezed rather loudly and as he reopened his eyes he was greeted to several glares and people shushing him.

\- Are you trying to get us killed boy? The voice came out in a harsh whisper, If Gato's men notice that we're here we'll be killed.

Naruto gave the man a strange look as he tilted his head to the side. Naruto and Inutsuna were currently guarding the huge bridge that was in construction and ever since they had arrived Naruto noticed that not many of the builders seemed very confident in what they were doing, only the occasional motivational outburst from Tazuna were keeping them here, it was sad to watch really. Sakura and Sasuke were with Kakashi at Tazuna's house doing some special training, the white haired jounin had said that it would be best to be better prepared for when the missing nin would return. Naruto had also wanted to join but Kakashi had convinced him to go so that he could learn new things about his relative.

\- Hey we're here to protect you, those guys don't stand a chance against us, believe it!

The builder who had spoken gave a disbelieving look at the orange clad brat. Did he really think he could fight the mercenaries that Gato had hired when so many adults had already died trying to do the same ?

\- Whatever brat.

And with that the man went back to his work hauling materials to the other builders. Inutsuna walked up to Naruto from the other side of the bridge, his head turned to look at the man who was walking away.

\- Naruto-sempai, you know that those guys don't really have much hope right? I mean their whole town is being starved out... And everyone's poor cause of Gato's ridiculous taxes.

The two blond haired boys looked at each other for a few seconds. Naruto knew they had no hope left but he couldn't stand it that everyone just rolled over and gave up like that.

\- Why don't we do something about it then ?

The sound of dark laughter suddenly echoed out accross the clearing, Naruto leapt up from his sitting position and pulled out his kunnai while Inutsuna simply rested his hand on the hilt of his tanto.

\- Well look at all this Damu! They think they're gonna save their wittle country by building this stupid bridge ! Ha !

All the builders turned towards the two men who were currently walking towards the bridge but they quickly looked down at the ground with somber eyes. Naruto looked around and noticed that the builders didn't look angry, like he expected but instead just looked resigned, as if they hadn't hired ninja to protect them.

\- I know right, hey Guchi why don't we destroy a bit of it just to slow 'em down !

The two men burst into laughter as they were finnaly fully visible. They were only a few feet from the bridge now, Guchi was dressed in some strange black and red robes that were tied to his body by an orange sash. The only thing Inutsuna could compare his clothing to was some martial artists he had met in Tanigakure. The fact that he was unarmed also made him think that he might be from said village. However the other man was visibly armed with a horrible looking serrated katana and even Naruto knew the man was a Samuraï just by looking at his clothing. He wore a white hakama that resembled baggy pants and he also had wooden sandals on, not to mention that he had his dark blue hair tied back into a pony tail. However Damu didn't wear any armor or even a shirt for that matter, something that was strange for a samuraï.

Just as the man named Damu was about to step onto the bridge he was forced to jump back as a shuriken landed where he had been a few seconds prior, his eyes darkened as he looked up towards the fool who had attacked him. Before he could see who it was the person landed right infront of him lashing out with a clumsy punch at his midsection. Despite being clumsy the punch had some force to it as it sent the ex-samuraï flying backwards, the man corrected himself and landed with a string of curses.

\- Who'd you think you are ya bastard ?! You don't just attack one of Gato's men !

\- I was about to ask the same question! There's no way i'm letting you near this bridge that so many people worked hard to build!

The words were said with anger but to the builders they sounded full of conviction, something they sorely lacked. They looked away as the katana weilding mercenary ran towards the boy intent on decapitating him. The builders were forced to look back rather quickly however at the sound of metal against metal.

\- Naruto-sempai, you take care of that other guy, i'll fight this wannabe !

\- Who are you calling a wannabe ?!

Naruto leapt away to fight the strange unnarmed man, he quickly settled into his brawling stance with his kunnai drawn. The man infront of him however settled into a rather strange stance. He seemed overly calm as he placed his legs far apart, one arm behind his back while the other came forwards with each finger outstretched. Naruto frowned at the man waiting for him to attack was boring and so the orange clad genin leapt into action, unconsciously channeling chakra to his feet as the ground crumbled under the strain. He brought his right fist towards the man's face while at the same time bringing his kunnai up to cut the man's arm. Guchi didn't move to dodge instead he simply batted away the fist that was aimed at his head and he sent the kunnai Naruto had been using flying away with a single chop to the blonde boy's wrist, he then forced the boy to leap back with a palm thrust aimed at his chest.

\- Damn, you're fast aren't you ?

\- Stating the obvious brat, if you don't want to die you better focus !

And with that the martial artist shot forwards with a speed that Naruto had never seen, a palm violently slammed against his chest and he felt the wind shoot out of his lungs, the next stike hit his chin sending him into the air slightly and slamming his teeth together painfully. The assault didn't stop there however as a sudden kick to his ribs sent him flying out into the nearby forest, Guchi wasn't satistfied with just that seeing as he dove into the forest after the boy. That was his first mistake, you should never fight a Konoha shinobi in a forest.

The second Guchi arrived at where he thought the blond brat had been he was assaulted by a wave of shuriken, despite the suprise attack Guchi managed to either dodge or bat away the spinning metal stars with the back of his hand. As soon as the onslaught stopped he scanned his surrounding for his opponent but the brat, despite being dressed in bright orange, was suprisingly very hard to spot. It was only the slightest of sounds that warned Guchi that something was above him, he looked up just in time to block a downwards kick that would have probably dislocated his shoulder. Naruto used the force of the blocked attack to shoot back off into the shadows of the trees.

Guchi smirked, this was good. The brat was somewhat smart, he knew that he couldn't fight the martial artist head on so instead he favored a hit and run tactic to whittle away at the older man's defenses. This would be a good fight. He felt the attack coming from behind and so he span arround, barely blocking a punch with his palm but instead of letting the brat dart back off he clutched his fist to hold him in place and brought his other hand back around from his back to strike the boy in the face. It was only instincs that saved him as a shuriken came flying at his back, he dodged at the last second but it still managed to scratch him. The spinning wheel of death collided with the face of the blond he was holding, Guchi was only shocked for a few seconds before the blond he was holding burst into smoke. Once again he barely had time to dodge as two attacks came at him from two diffrent directions, a punch from the front and a kick from the back. He managed to block the two attacks with both his forearms but he was now completly confused. He tryed to see who the second person was but they disapeared too fast, the brat hadn't been this fast before.

Guchi unfortunatly didn't have a lot of knowledge about ninjutsu and chakra. If he did he would have known that Naruto was using shadow clones to attack and as soon as they had attacked he dispersed them, simulating the affect of sudden attacks out of nowhere along with instant disapearance. This tactic was effective as long as the clones weren't forcefully dispelled by the ennemy. Because when Naruto himself dispelled them there was no sound or smoke, the chakra was gently brought back to him. But when they were forcefully dispelled there was a loud pop and a cloud of smoke because of the chakra being violently and suddenly released from its container.

Despite Guchi having dispelled a clone he still hadn't figured it out, something that confused Naruto to no end.

The blond slowly stepped it up a notch sending in five clones and then seven and then ten. This tactic wouldn't work for many as it required ridiculous amounts of Chakra. Naruto was slowly beginning to understand how special he really was and it wasn't really that comforting. When Kakashi had first seen Naruto use the jutsu he had said that a normal jounin could barely make five shadow clones without being completly drained of chakra. But the first time Naruto had used the jutsu he had made at least two hundred clones to beat the shit out of Mizuki. Something else Naruto had noticed about his jutsu was that when he did overuse it his head would begin to hurt like hell and then he would feel a strange warmth come from his stomac and it would just go away.

The blond shinobi had long since ditched the idea of making his clones disapear seeing as it didn't really matter and instead now just had ten clones beating the shit out of the martial artist from all sides, it was almost pitiful. Guchi didn't stand a chance as the attacks rained down on him, he counted six punches and four kicks along with the occasional shuriken being tossed at him. Now either the boy was inhumanly fast or he was using some kind of shinobi trick to do this. Either way Guchi didn't care at this point he just wanted to strangle the brat, the pain that was beggining to blosom accross his entire body was unbearable. It was just a slight noise, a leaf rustling maybe, but Guchi heard it and he shot towards it with all the speed he had, hitting and dispelling almost all of the clones in his mad dash.

Naruto was grappled out of the tree by the speedy martial artist and the blond didn't have to be a genius to realise that the man was intent on killing him as he felt his throat get crushed by the man's extraordinary strength. He felt tears well up in his eyes as he tryed to reach behind his back for a shuriken, seeing as his kunnai was still next to the bridge somewhere, but the pouch was clamped shut by the weight of his body and Guchi's who was forcing all of it down onto the blond boy.

It was so sudden when it happened that Naruto was still trying to catch up to what had happened when Guchi's lifeless body fell to the ground, a shuriken sticking out of his neck. Naruto's bright blue eyes turned to a clone as he tryed to regain his breath. Strangely enough the clone was clutching at it's neck with a pained expression on its face and was panting heavily.

\- D-Don't you dare hurt our boss !

And with that the clone vanished into thin air. Naruto wasn't sure what had happened but he was supprised to say the least, the clones had never really talked before save for when he had fought Mizuki but they had just said the same things as him. And why had it seemed to be in the same pain as him ? He didn't understand it... He slowly got up and started stumbling towards where he thought the bridge was.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Inutsuna watched as Guchi dashed off after Naruto, the dog like boy didn't know whether Naruto could handle that martial artist on his own... He had to take down this Damu guy as quickly as possible, Ryou-sama would be sad if anything happened to one of his relatives and Inutsuna didn't want to see his master like that again.

The young blond haired boy eyed up his opponent, observing his stance and trying to find a hole in it. There weren't any, this guy was a bonafide swordsman. Inutsuna smirked slightly, he wasn't as good as Ryou-sama though. Inutsuna charged the man who was clutching his serrated Katana with both hands.

The dog like boy got up close and personal using his small size to get as close to his opponent as possible, he was mere centimeters away from the man when he brought his Tanto up in a stabbing motion aimed at the merc's heart. Damu was shocked at the speed the little brat was using but he still managed to react in time to hit the Tanto downwards with his serrated blade, suddenly trapping the smaller blade against the ground. The tall samuraï let his right hand leave the blade he was holding in favor of striking out at the boy with a vicious punch. The blue eyed boy suprisingly managed to dodge around his punch and headbutted his chin, making the man recoil which in turn liberated his Tanto. Inutsuna moved low to the ground once again, his hands practicaly scrapping against the grass as he brought his Tanto up in the same stabbing motion from before. What Inutsuna hadn't expected was for Damu to react instantaneously this time, despite still in the process of stumbling backwards he clutched his katana with both hands and brought it down in a wide splitting motion. Despite having already dodged out of the way of where he predicted the blade would go his instincs shouted at him to jump away and so he did.

\- Hn... So you noticed...

Inutsuna looked at the blade that hadn't made contact with the ground and then down at the ground itself that looked like it had been crushed by a huge warhammer. The man raised his blade up and Inutsuna could now distinctly see the outlines of a warhammer made of wind surrounding the Katana like an outer shell. If Inutsuna hadn't dodged he would have been crushed.

\- Fine if you want to play like that no-shirt-san then let's see what you can do against this !

Damu was taken aback by the sudden burst of chakra that came from the boy, it was so heavy he felt like he could choke on it. He half heartedly noticed that the boy's katana began shining a bright white and the air around the blade seemed to shimmer slightly. Inutsuna launched himself forwards and this time instead of moving low to the ground with several kicks to move faster, he pushed forwards with a single chakra filled kick. He swung his tanto against the man's katana slash wind hammer hybrid and used the force to bounce back, he then kicked off the ground again, once again striking the katana.

The shirtless samuraï wasn't sure what was going on, previously the brat had been aiming at him but now he was bouncing off of the ground, trees and his katana like a ball in a god damned pin ball machine. He was purposely targeting his katana. Not only that but he seemed to be getting faster and faster and his strikes seemed to become harder and harder. It was only at the last second that he noticed his blade had begun to crack. He watched in slow motion as the blond brat bounced off of the ground and shot towards him like a water bullet, his Tanto striking his Katana one last time as it shattered, some of the shards cutting into his body, the shockwave that came with the strike echoed through his bones and he felt the force that had been building up without a target suddenly target him.

Stoïc eyes watched from the forest line, the person completly hidden by the shadows of the leaves, as Damu bounced several times off of the ground. It was true that Damu was nowhere near as strong as Zabuza-sama but the fact that the boy beat him so easily was worrying, when they had fought he was just messing around which angered the hidden shadow even more as it clutched at its damaged arm. The boy had somehow used earth natured chakra to increase the weight of his blade by a lot, his fighting style completly changed when he did that. At first he stayed low and tryed to stab upwards at any vitals he could, like when they had fought, but the second he increased the weight of his Tanto he had aimed at the man's weapon, striking downwards in order to take full advantage of the weight boost. The shadow slowly faded away, detachedly watching as the boy stabbed Damu in the side of the head.

Inutsuna was about to dash off into the forest when suddenly Kakashi walked out of the area carrying something on his back.

\- No need to worry Inutsuna-san, Naruto-kun is fine, just a little worn out me thinks...

Inutsuna barely acknowledged the man as he ran up to him, his eyes intently stairing at his relative with worry. It was then and there that Kakashi decided that the young boy hadn't been lying this whole time, he hadn't just made everything up to get close to the Jinchuriki of the nine tailed fox. No this boy was the genuin article, an Uzumaki who wanted to have a family.

Suddenly the sound of applause echoed out through the clearing, cheers and whistles accompanying it. Kakashi's lone eye scanned around and he noticed several builders approaching but not only, apparently some civilians had been drawn by the noise and they were all smilling brightly.

It was the first time in a long time that the people of wave had hope, hope that they could build the bridge with the help of these shinobi, hope that they could liberate their country, hope that they could finnaly be free.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Naruto sat at the table with his teammates, his sensei, Tazuna and Inutsuna. They were waiting for the food that would be set out infront of them soon but in the meantime there were conversations being exchanged over the wooden table. Naruto felt somewhat strange as Sasuke was the one to question the blond about the fight.

-Dobe, how strong was the mercenary you fought? If we can get a general idea of the strength of Gato's forces then we can know what to prepare for.

It was clear that Sasuke added the explanation as an afterthought but only Inutsuna and Kakashi seemed to notice.

\- Well Guchi, the guy I fought, used this strange sort of taijutsu but he didn't really seem to understand what chakra was which was really weird...

Sasuke nodded slightly but before he could say anything it was suprisingly Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter and their host that spoke up.

\- You defeated Guchi ? That horrible man was One of Gato's most trusted mercenaries! He was second in trust only to Damu !

Inutsuna was slightly shocked those guys had been some of the best Gato had ? They weren't that skilled... Zabuza was alot stronger... No wait she had said 'most trusted' that didn't mean strongest.

\- Oh Yeah ! That was the guy Inutsuna took down.

As Naruto said this he smilled brightly and did a swinging motion in the air as if he had a sword to resemble Inutsuna as much as possible. The gasp he received from Tsunami sounded as shocked as Naruto had ever heard someone be. Aparently a ten year old defeating someone like that wasn't very strange to Naruto. The sudden and loud joy-filled laughter that echoed throughout the house came from Tazuna as he entered the room.

\- Man you guys really are super ninja! I never thought I would see the day when those super bad guys got what was comming to 'em !

\- Father ! Don't encourage them, they're kids and one of them isn't even a shinobi! They shouldn't be fighting, let alone killing people !

At that Naruto decided he should speak up but he was cut off.

\- Yeah mom's right, they'll just die if they keep fighting like that, after all heroes always wind up dead.

The boy who had spoken had at some point taken a seat at the table and was now openly glaring at the shinobi one by one.

\- Hey we defeated Gato's strongest fighters so what makes you think we can't take down the rest ! And I ain't dying 'till i become Hokage believe it !

The boy looked at Naruto as if he was the stupidest person he had ever met.

\- Baka ! Guchi and Damu were just his most trusted! His strongest mercenaries are Zori and Waraji!

Naruto did not look impressed at the supposed strongest mercenaries' names.

\- They're litteraly named after sandals... How could a super Hero like me not defeat those weaklings?

The boy seemed to turn a strange shade of red with anger, Naruto didn't mean to be disrespecful but those were the people who had killed his illegitimate father.

\- Shut the hell up ! You don't know anything ! Heroes don't exist !

And with that the boy stormed off. Naruto looked towards the worried Tsunami who was going after the boy and then towards Tazuna who now had a downcast air about him.

\- Sorry, that was totaly not super... But the meaning of courage has been stolen from the people of this island... And from Inari. Ever since that day... Because of that incident.

Everyone turned to look at Tazuna. Kakashi who had stayed quiet so far was the one to speak.

\- That incident ? What do you mean Tazuna-san ? What happened to Inari-kun ?

The man rubbed the bridge of his nose as he sighed heavily. He seemed, for the first time since they had met him, as old as he was.

\- Before I get to that... I have to tell you about the man who was called the Hero of Wave...

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

\- Damn it ! How in god's name did my most trusted men get taken down by a pair of brats ?! This is your fault !

Five people were currently in an office with a large wooden desk and a disproportionately tiny man sat behind it dressed in a black tuxedo and black sunglasses.

\- You should calm yourself Gato-san, just because you're paying us dosen't mean we won't just kill you and take your money.

Gato flinched slightly at that and had a cold sweat on his neck at the tone the huge man took. He hated dealing with shinobi, they were too unruly especially the missing nin.

\- Fine just get out of my sight ! And you better take care of those brats and that bridge builder soon, understood ?!

It couldn't be seen under his bandage wraps but Zabuza was smirking.

\- Of course Gato-sama .

And with that Haku and Zabuza left the room.

\- How is your arm Haku?

Haku didn't want to anwser at first. The ligaments in the arm had been severed and there was nothing that could be done to make it heal faster without using an Iryo ninjutsu.

\- I am fine Zabuza-sama, I do not need my left arm to fight, I have already mastered the use of one handed seals with my bloodline and I can easily throw senbon with only one hand aswell...

Zabuza Frowned slightly as he looked at his apprentice. It was worrying, that sort of injury could end a shinobi's career if not taken care of.

\- I know but a damaged tool is still less effective than one that isn't, if you had use of both arms you would be a lot more valuable. Keep that in mind... At least I can still use your brains. When shall we strike against the bridge builder and those brats ?

Haku hesitated slightly, herbs could be collected and used as painkillers to allow some use of the damaged arm.

\- I will collect some herbs before we strike, I can do that tomorow morning... We will attack after the demon brothers have recovered.

Zabuza nodded slightly as they approached the room they had been given by Gato.

\- Good, the Demon brothers will be useful in taking down those brats while I kill the copy nin.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

After hearing Inari's story and having learnt everything about Kaiza and how he died Naruto had rushed off promising that he would prove heroes do exist, it was a bold claim but it still put a smile on Kakashi's face.

Sakura walked out of the hallway that not only lead to the stairway that went upstairs but also to the small room she had been sleeping in with Tsunami, the boys had slept next door in the guest room. It was a shame really, Sakura would have loved to have slept in the same room as Sasuke but Naruto-baka and that Inutsuna kid would be there aswell. She let out a loud yawn as she stepped into the living area of the rather decent sized house. The house had two stories but Sakura had so far only really explored the first. It had a living area that had tatami mats lining the floor, it had a few shelves and a window that allowed anyone in the room to gaze out at the sea. A dusty futon had been laine out for Kakashi to sleep on while they were staying here. Connecting to the same room was the entrance slash dinning area that also had the kitchen in it, the floor seemed to be made of hardened dirt at first glance but it was infact made of a fired clay mixture, this area was however lower to the ground than the living area and so it meant she had to jump down to get to the table. The difference in height was due to the fact that most of the house was built over the sea and was only held up by reinforced stilts.

As she entered she noticed her sensei was sat in between the two rooms with his legs crossed, he seemed to be conversing with Tazuna who was sat at the head of the table with a tiny nine year old Inari on his left and Sasuke sat at the other end of the table with Inutsuna on his right, Tsunami was humming peacefully as she prepared the breakfast for everyone.

\- Naruto-san didn't come back again last night then ?

\- I'm sure Naruto-sempai is fine...

Sakura decided that she would put her two ryo in even if she had just arrived.

\- He's been training ever since you told us your story, he's very simple minded and stubborn...

\- You don't have to worry about him Tazuna-san, he might not look like one but Naruto is a real Shinobi.

\- He may have used too much chakra and energy by now... He's probably already dead.

The pink haired girl chuckled slighlty, she didn't hate the orange loving boy, sometimes he could even act 'cute' god forbid but his infatuation with her when she had already stated she loved Sasuke was a pain. It was true that recently he had less time to hound her seeing as he was busy training.

Sasuke deadpanned at his pink haired teammate with his fingers locked together.

\- I wouldn't joke about that if i were you, It wouldn't suprise me if he was dead... He's such a moron.

Kakashi eye smilled at his students strange humor but still sweatdropped at Sasuke's words.

\- That's cruel Sasuke-kun.

Elsewhere unbeknownst to everyone that was currently talking in Tazuna's house a certain blond haired leaf shinobi was lying in the grass of a brightly lit forest, drool slightly dribbiling out of his mouth as the sun's rays bathed him in warmth and reflected off of his forehead protector and the kunnai he had clutched in his hand. Suprisingly the birds of the forest were not uncomfortable with the boy's presence, some pecking at the ground nearby and one of the braver ones had even settled on his chest.

The sound of gentle humming echoed out from a very feminine young woman with long black hair who also happened to be wearing a lovely pink kimono with red spirals on it. She also had a purple ribbon tied around her neck. The young girl half heartedly noticed something shinning in the forest and turned her gaze to investigate, she almost instantly realised that what was slightly blinding her was a Konoha forehead protector. The girl frowned heavily as she got closer to the boy, scaring away the birds that had been peacefully resting up until then. She slowly reached down towards the boy's neck looking as if she was tempted to strangle the boy in his sleep, something stopped her however. The fading marks on his neck plus the peaceful look on his face was too much for her. She simply shook his shoulder in the end.

\- You'll catch a cold if you sleep in a place like this.

The young blond shinobi slowly blinked the sleep from his eyes as he unnoticably tightened the grip he had on his kunnai.

\- Huh ? Who're you ?

\- Ah, i'm just looking for some herbs, would you like to help me ?

Naruto blinked a few times as his vision finnaly focused on the beautiful girl before him. He ignored the fact that she didn't answer his question in favor of answering hers.

\- Sure !

Naruto looked up at the sky and judged that it was actualy rather early in the morning. Iruka had taught him to precisely tell the time by looking at the sun but Naruto had only half remembered what he had said and that was just because it meant he didn't need a watch. After the girl had showed Naruto what she was looking for the two settled into a comfortable silence as they each picked the herbs. The silence was short lived however.

\- You sure are up early miss, you wouldn't think these herbs were all that important...

\- Well i could say the same thing about you, it's not everyday you find someone just sleeping out in the middle of a forest, what were you doing out here anyway ?

\- Training to become a Hero !

The girl chuckled lightly at the boy's claim, but her eyes barely reflected it. She scanned the boy from head to toe with her eyes and she noticed something. Despite the baggy clothes he wore and his chubby face he definitly had some muscle on him, the kind only obtained through daily phisical exercise. Another thing was that despite being crouched down and picking herbs he was doing so in such a way that he could easily dodge out of the way of a suprise attack with his legs constantly tensing with each movement she took no matter how small. It was almost scary to see such instincs in a child, although she wasn't one to talk.

\- You're a shinobi right ?

\- Ah ! You noticed ? But i'm not just any shinobi ! I'm gonna be Hokage someday, believe it !

\- Is that why you were training then ?

\- Mhh... Not only that ! I want to make everyone acknowledge me ! And I need to prove that Heroes do exist !

\- Is that for someone else or for yourself then ?

Naruto squinted, placed a hand on his chin and tilted his head to the side either trying to understand what she had said or decide on what his answer was. The girl couldn't help but giggle at his expression.

\- What I mean is... Is there someone important to you, someone who you want to acknowledge you ?

Naruto noticed how the girl's eyes darkened slightly as she spoke, a serious expression crossing her face. What he couldn't know was that the girl before him was completly lost in her dark past.

\- When a person has something important to protect, that's when they become truly strong.

Naruto thought back to his past experiences, when he had protected Iruka from Mizuki, when Inutsuna and Kakashi had protected them from Zabuza and his apprentice and... And when Kaiza had protected Inari and Wave country with his own two arms...

\- I can understand that...

It seemed like that was the right thing to say as the girl smilled brightly at the blond haired shinobi.

\- Well, I have collected enough herbs thanks to you. Let's meet again someday...

\- Yeah, let's !

The young girl suddenly stopped in her tracks as she glanced back at the shinobi over her shoulder.

\- Oh and by the way... I'm a boy.

\- Ehhhhhh ?!

And with that the mysterious androgynous boy disapeared into the treeline.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

It was Naruto's turn to get training from Kakashi. Sakura was out on the bridge protecting the builders during their afternoon shift while Sasuke was in another part of the forest still training. Apparently Sakura had aced the training Kakashi had given her and so she was now assigned full time as Tazuna's guard, also Kakashi doubted Gato would try anything so soon after his embarassing defeat at the vlond duo's hands. Supprisingly more people had turned up to help than before and as a result the construction of the bridge was advancing smoothly, accoarding to Tazuna they would be able to finnish in two weeks if they kept up the good work.

Naruto, Kakashi and Inutsuna were currently out in the forest that wasn't too far from Tazuna's home, the birds and insects seemed to still as if listening to the conversations going on in the small clearing.

\- Now Naruto-kun I was going to teach you tree climbing because of your horrible chakra control but I think we should start with something a little simpler. You're going to be doing the leaf balancing exercise understood ? And once you've managed to get one to stick to your forhead you're going to try and stick one to your forehead and arm at the same time, this way you'll be able to learn to channel chakra to two diffrent places at the same time that'll be useful for what i'm planning for you. And once you've managed that you'll be doing the same thing but with as many stones as you can handle along both your arms... Seeing as you have huge chakra reserves that should be easy right ?

Naruto puffed his cheeks out at his teacher, he felt insulted that he didn't think he was good enough to do the same exercise as his teammates but the fact that he said he had plans for him made something stir in his heart. After Naruto's chat with Inutsuna in the forest when he had found out about his mother the young blond gained a new view towards a lot of things.

\- Now get to it Naruto-kun... Meanwhile, Inutsuna-kun seing as we're going to be fighting together until we get back to Konoha I need to know what you're capable of doing.

\- I can do water walking, my elemental affinity is earth, I use Ryou-sama's style of Kenjutsu, I use a variation of the Inuzuka clan's taijutsu style developped by my branch of the Uzumaki clan called the Whirling Claw style. Apart from that I don't have very many jutsu, just the a few basic earth jutsu like earth wall and earth spear and some fire jutsu that accentuate my kenjutsu...

Kakashi nodded, approving of the skills the boy possessed, these things along with the immense speed he had would be perfect for facing off against Zabuza's subordinate.

\- Any particular weaknesses ?

Inutsuna went from being proud to slightly embaressed as he spoke.

\- I'm actualy really weak to Genjutsu, my master said it was because I rely heavily on instincs when I fight so i'm really easy to manipulate...

\- That's fine, Zabuza dosen't look like the kind of person who uses Genjutsu and neither does that Haku person... But there's something about that one, you'll want to be careful when fighting them...

\- I'm fighting Haku ?

\- Yes, I'll deal with Zabuza, you and Sasuke will deal with Haku while Sakura and Naruto deal with any extra fighters... But that's not important right now... What could I teach you I wonder ? We wouldn't want you slacking off now would we ?

Kakashi's lone Eye turned towards the blond ninja that for some reason was still stood there looking at the white haired jounin with a strange grimace.

\- What is it Naruto-kun ?

\- Sensei... I have no clue what you just told me to do... Chakra control ? Leaf balancing excercice ? Wasat ?

Kakashi gazed at his student with a deadpan expression. Just how stupid was his student again ?

\- Chakra control is your ability to channel the correct ammount of Chakra for what you want to use it for, which is mainly jutsu. Take the tree climbing exercice I mentioned, that excercice requires you to channel chakra to your feet, which is said to be the hardest area to channel the right ammount to. The thing is if you channel too much you'll blow yourself away and damage the tree in the process but if you channel too little you'll just fall back down. It's the same idea for jutsu, use too much chakra and the technique will be extremly powerful but very chakra intensive and have the risk of backfiring... Use too little and the jutsu won't form properly if at all. I gave you the leaf balancing excercice which consists of channeling chakra to your forehead to make a leaf stick to it.

Naruto looked at his sensei with his head titled and looked as if he was searching for something.

\- Chakra ? Where have I heard that before ?

A loud facepalm could be heard echoing through the clearing as Naruto's sensei decided that he might become depressive if this went on.

\- Naruto-sempai, honestly how do you not know this stuff ? It's essential for a shinobi !

\- Hey it's not my fault the teachers were always so boring, every time they started talking about this kind of stuff I would get really tired and fall asleep !

Kakashi frowned slightly at that, it was true that when Kakashi had watched the boy he had fallen asleep during important lessons... In hindsight Kakashi wondered if it was always a coincidence or if there was something else behind it.

\- Simply put chakra is a unison of your body's phisical energy which you can increase via phisical training and spiritual energy which you can increase via chakra control exercices or meditation. When you call upon chakra using hand seals you are transforming your phisical and spiritual energy into chakra, however you also have a natural ammount of chakra that circulates through your body that is transformed in your chakra coils. You can use the chakra from there aswell but in general it's more time consuming and less efficient, that is unless it's to stick to surfaces or increase your phisical strength. Also handseals are what a lot of people use to transform their chakra but people have been known to master the transformation with one handed seals or even none at all, allowing them to rule the battlefield. The first person to ever use jutsu without a single handseal was supposedly Tobirama Senju.

Naruto scratched his head before suddenly looking over towards Inutsuna.

\- Hey, I don't really get all that complicated mumbo jumbo sensei is talking about, but isn't this the sort of thing you should learn with your body ?

Inutsuna sighed heavily at the his blond relative's stupidity but he couldn't fault the boy's reasoning.

\- Yes, you're right so how about you go and practice and see how well you do ?

And like that the orange bundle of energy shot off into the trees to grab a leaf to balance on his head. Kakashi gave a slight eye smile at the Uzumaki before him.

\- Now where we ? Ah yes... A jutsu of some sort maybe ? I have thousands of them after all !

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

It had been eight days since they had arrived at Tazuna's house, it was currently late at night and the moon was high up in the sky. Naruto was lying in the grass panting heavily, he had large rocks littered around him as his whole body was drenched in sweat and caked in dirt. The sound of someone climbing down the tree was revealed to be Sasuke who was just about as filthy as Naruto was. He seemed almost as exhausted as the blonde.

\- Dobe, I think we should start heading back.

Naruto smilled up with his eyes still closed tightly to avoid any sweat getting into them.

\- What? Tired already... Sasuke-chan ?

Ever since Naruto had stayed out until early morning training and had run into that weird boy, Sasuke had insisted on training with the orange loving nuissance. He had said that at least that way there would be someone to drag him back.

Despite his words the orange boy got up and put an arm around the black haired Uchiha when he offered. They walked towards Tazuna's home at a nail's pace but they managed to get there without colapsing at least. Sasuke slid the door open and stepped inside. Both boys were greeted to the sight of Kakashi, Tazuna, Inutsuna and Inari sat around the table. Sakura and Tsunami had probably already gone to bed.

\- Wow Naruto-sempai you look disgusting, and you smell like crap aswell !

\- Hehe, Sasuke made it to the top of the tree and I finnaly managed to balance that huge rock you told me to sensei, with just my chakra !

\- Ah Good... That means Sakura, Inutsuna and Sasuke have finnished the training I had planned... I guess the rest of your training can wait until we get back to the village Naruto so that way everyone will be guarding the bridge in its finnal stages.

As Sasuke 'gently' diposited the blond shinobi onto a stool Tazuna began talking.

\- Yeah the bridge is almost finished we don't have much left to do... But i'm super worn out from work Hehe !

\- Father, Naruto-kun don't overwork yourselves understood ?

Sasuke observed as Inari, the annoying crybaby, looked at Naruto with several emotions flashing past his face only to finnish on a look of anger and sadness. Tears streamed down the boys face as he suddenly shot out of his seat, slamming his small hands onto the table .

\- Why do you guys even bother working so hard ?! No matter how hard you train, you're still no match for Gato's men ! No matter what glorious claims you make or how hard you work... When facing the strong, the weak will always end up dead !

The Outburst was met with suprise and wide eyes from everyone at the table including Inutsuna, the boy had shouted so loudly that he had even woken up Sakura and Tsunami who were now switching their looks from a silent Naruto to a livid looking Inari. The only person who seemed to stay completly calm was Naruto, his yellow spiky hair casting a shadow over his eyes.

\- Whatever... I ain't like you brat, i'm not weak.

At this point the stream of tears had turned into a waterfall and the little boy's voice was slightly cracking as he shouted.

\- I'd hate to be like you ! You don't know anything about this country, about Gato ! And yet you're being so nosy ! What the hell do you know about me ?! I'm different from you, you're always acting like a clown and smilling like an idiot ! You don't know how hard life can be !

You don't know how hard life can be !? He had grown up in an orphanage, got kicked out at five years old, sure the old man gave him an appartement and a monthly allowance but the only places that gave him a decent price was Ichiraku Ramen and Choji's fammily restaurant but even then he could only buy simple things and not a lot of it. Only one weapons shop would sell their products to him when he made genin so he scoured training grounds in order to collect any old kunnai or shiruken that might have been left behind in training. Almost everyone in the village either glared at him or completly ingored him, calling him a demon or a cursed child. So when a pampered brat who has a loving mother and grandfather, who has food in his belly and just sits around crying all day tells him that he dosen't know how hard life can be ? We lets just say no one would hold it against him to snap.

\- It's fine if you want to play the star of a tragedy and cry about it all day long.

The usualy cheerful boy shot out of his chair, his sky blue eyes turning a shade of cyan that resembled ice.

\- So just keep on crying forever... You little sissy !

The words were said with such venom that Sakura and Sasuke were completly taken aback, it was as if he was a completly different person than who they knew. Inari on the other hand was completly frozen, he wasn't a shinobi so even the tiny ammount of killing intent that had slipped into his words was enough to scare him half to death. Kakashi however just looked at Naruto with somber eyes. As soon as Sakura recovered she glared at her teammate from the other room.

\- Naruto, enough !

\- Fine. I'm going to bed. 'Night.

And like that the spell was broken and Inari rushed out the door with tears still flowing from his eyes. Kakashi got up and slowly followed the boy outside. He found him sat on the wooden overhang stairing down at the Sea letting his salty tears fall into it.

\- May i join you Inari-kun ?

Without waiting for an anwser he sat down next to the boy.

\- Naruto didn't mean any harm when he said that... He just dosen't use his head when he speaks...

Kakashi looked out at the sea, admiring how the moon reflected off of its surface.

\- Tazuna-san told us about your father... And like you Naruto grew up without one, infact he grew up without ever knowing who either of his parents were, only recently has he found out about his mother... The truth is he's had a much rougher past than you, his life was and maybe still is, very hard... But i've never heard him complain or cry about those things... Instead he focuses on training to gain everyone's approval... He's probably sick and tired of crying. You know he's probably better suited to understand you than anyone else... He also knows what it means to be strong, just like your father.

The silence that invaded the area after Kakashi's speach was not an awkward one. But unknown to the two who were sat outside, three other people had been at the window listening intently.

\- It can't be true can it ? There's no way Naruto, that sunny cheerful idiot could have as hard a life as Kakashi-sensei is making it out to be ?

\- Sakura you shouldn't be so trusting of the masks people want you to see... remember what Kakashi-sensei said, look underneath the underneath... If anything the dobe's life could be even worse than we think.

Inutsuna on the other hand was trying to mentaly register everything so that he could report it back to his master when they finnaly went back to Konoha.


End file.
